Flight Control Systems

Flight Control Systems

Patrick Martin
Bowling Green State University
ECT 4530

Flight Control Systems

Abstract
Since the Wright brothers first flight in 1903, flight control systems have been under
development. Every advancement improved on the previous design. Early flight controls where
simple mechanical linkages to movable control surfaces. In these designs, the pilot was the
process controller, relying on gentle movements to put the aircraft into the desired state. Larger
aircraft proved difficult to control purely through mechanical force applied by the pilot. As
planes grew in size, different systems where developed to move the huge control surfaces.
Hydraulically assisted flight controls, where the pilot still acts as the controller, where
implemented. Hydraulic pressure produced from the planes engine would help move the control
surfaces. Then, with the development of electronics, came the marvel of autopilot, and electrical
control. After simple electric controls had been around for a while the military started
experimenting with true Fly By Wire systems. These systems took the small sensitive
adjustments literally out of the hands of the pilot and implemented computers to do the job. Fly
by wire has matured over time to a pure digital format, giving better performance and more
accurate control over aircraft. Next on the horizon for flight control systems are neural networks
that implement fuzzy logic to manipulate flexible flight surfaces.

Flight Control Systems

Introduction
On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers made history by being the first people ever to
pilot a self powered aircraft. Although the first flight only lasted 12 seconds, the Wright brothers
discovered how difficult an aircraft can be to control. In Orville Wrights diary page dated
December 17, 1903, he writes, "I found the control of the front rudder quite difficult." The
problem that Orville experienced on his first flight is not uncommon, even today. However, the
industry has made great advances in flight controls since the age of the, forward rudder, Wright
Flyer. Designers got better at figuring out where to put the control surfaces. Movable surfaces,
ailerons, flaps, rudder, and elevators, ended up being predominately placed on the trailing edges,
rather than the leading edges of the wings and tail. By doing this, the aircraft became more stable
and tolerant of over jealous pilots. As planes grew larger, extra help was needed to position the
huge flight control surfaces. Designers overcame the problem by using hydraulic pressure,
created by the aircraft engines, to assist pilots in moving the control surfaces. Once the basic
design of mechanical flight controls had matured, designers began looking to the new and
exciting world of electronics to provide more control. From this basic electrical control loop
systems came into being. Many different variations of electrical and electronic control systems
where devised by different manufacturers. Then in the 1970s the military and NASA
implemented the first true Fly By Computer system. This system gave direct control of the
aircraft over to the flight computer(s). Every new military jet since, has been designed with
digital flight controls. In the 1980s commercial jets started to roll off the lines with digital flight
controls and just recently business jets have finally adapted digital controls. Although
mechanical designs are still predominately employed in smaller aircraft, fly by computer is now

Flight Control Systems

a widely used, mature technology for jets. The future of flight controls may include the use of
neural networks and fuzzy logic controllers to warp flexible wings and tails on jets.
Mechanical and Hydraulic Control
Aspreviouslymentioned,thefirstflightcontrolsystemswherepurelymechanical
systemsconsistingofpulleys,cables,andpushrods.Thelimitationsofthistypeofsystemare
apparentinmanymoviesdepictingpilotsstrugglingtoregaincontroloftheirplanes.Theimages
oftenshowapilotpullingwithallhismightonthestickinordertorighttheaircraftandavoid
collidingwiththeground.Dueto
costandneed,themajorityof
aircraftproducedtodaystilluse
mechanicalcontrols.Virtuallyall
smallerscale,propellerdriven
aircraftusemechanicalcontrols.
Largerpropelleraircraftandless
complexjetsuseasystemof
hydraulicallyboostedflightcontrols.Inthesetypesofsystems,rodsandcablesstillcomefrom
thecockpit.Butinsteadofdirectlydrivingthesurfaces,theyoperatehydraulicvalvesthatmove
thesurfacesaccordingly.AccordingtotheAviationStructuralMechanic(H&S)3&2(1983),
Eachmovablesurfaceisoperatedbyahydraulicactuator(or power control cylinder) built into
the control linkage. In both mechanical and hydraulic systems, the pilot is the sole controller in
the process loop. His visual examination of the instrument gauges and feel from the yoke, are the
only feedback forces in the loop. The output of the process is the actual flight control surfaces
themselves.

Flight Control Systems

Analog Electronic Controls

Clear limitations of mechanical systems and the availability of electronics spurred the
development of electronic flight controls. Simple analog flight control systems use transducers to
convert stick movement into voltage changes. The voltage changes are read by the process
controller as error. The controller may be a simple proportional control. In higher end systems a
PID controller is used. Thehydrauliccircuitsofthesystemaresimilartomechanicallyboosted
designs,exceptthatmechanicalservovalvesarereplacedwithelectricallycontrolledservo
valves.Theservossendfeedbacktothecontrollerpresentingcurrentpositionofthatcontrol
surface,completingtheloop.Onecontrolloopisneededforeachcontrolsurface.Autopilotis
alsointroducedinasanerrorinelectronicflightcontrols.Controllingaircraftbyelectronic
meanshadsomesideeffects.Oneproblemwasthatpilotscouldnolongerfeelaircraftresponses
inthecontrolstick.Thisissuewasalleviatedbytheuseofartificialfeelcircuits.Artificialfeel,
orforcefeedback,usedfeedbackfromthecontrollooptopushbackonthecontrolstick,giving
thepilotasenseofwhattheaircraftisdoing.Safetyisanotherconcernwithelectronicsystems.
Ifconnectionbetweenthecontrollerandanyotherpartoftheloopislostordegraded,thenthe
pilotlosescontroloftheaircraft.Thisproblemisfixedwithredundantsystems.Infactmanyjets
haveuptofourredundantsystemsincaseoneisdamaged.

DigitalFlightControls
The development of computers in the 1970s and 1980s, inevitably led to improvements in
flight controls. Computers opened up many new possibilities in the aviation industry, especially
in flight controls. Digital flight controls, also called digital fly by wire, or fly by computer, was

Flight Control Systems

first developed by NASA and the US Air Force. According to a NASA (2010) fact sheet The
firsttestofaDFBWsysteminanaircraftwasinl972onamodifiedF8CrusaderattheFlight
ResearchCenter,Edwards,Calif.(nowDrydenFlightResearchCenter).Itwastheforerunnerof
theflybywireflightcontrolsystemsnowusedonthespaceshuttlesandontoday'smilitaryand
civilaircrafttomakethemsafer,moremaneuverableandmoreefficient.Thedigitalflight
controlsystemissimilartotheanalogequivalent,exceptthatitallowsformuchgreater
capability,byusingcomputerprocessingpowertotakemanymorevariablesintoconsideration,
whenmovingcontrolsurfaces.Insteadofusingmultiplecontrollers(oneforeachcontrolloop)
thedigitalsystemusesacentralizedcontroller(computer).Inessence,thecomputeriswhat
actuallydoestheflyinginadigitalflightcontrolsystem.Thepilotisconsideredjustanother
input,orsourceoferror,whenthecomputeriscalculatingthedesiredpositionoftheflight
controlsurfaces.TheF16wasthefirstaircraftdesignedentirelyaroundtheflybywiresystem.
FlybywireisusedintheUSspaceshuttle,inordertokeepcontrolofthecraftduringreentry.
In1984theAirbusA320becamethefirstcommercialairlinertoimplementdigitalflight
controls.Anditwasntuntil2005thatbusinessjetsstartedtouseflybywiresystems.
Digitalflightcontrolswhereoriginallyutilizedtocontrolaircraftthatwouldotherwisebe
uncontrollablebystandardmeans.TheF16wasdesignedcompletelyaroundthetechnologyof
computercontrolledflight.TheaerodynamicsandweightdistributionoftheairframeontheF16
makeitimpossibleforapilottodirectlycontrol.Thedigitalflightcontrolcomputerreceives
informationfromsensorsandcontinuouslymakesfineadjustmentstoflightcontrolsurfaces,so
thatthejetfliessmoothlythroughtheair.Inputsintothecomputercomefrommanysources:rate
sensinggyros,accelerometers,altitude,airspeed,weightonwheels,autopilotcommands,andthe

Flight Control Systems

pilotsstick.Eachtimethattheaircraftiscommandedtoperformacertainway,viatheside
stick,thecomputerreadsthemovementaserrorinthesystem,anddependingonalltheother
factors,itwillcommandmovementofthecontrolsurfacesbytheappropriateamount.Itis
apparentthatthepilotnowhasnodirectcontrolovertheaircraft.
Somecommonfeaturesandbenefitsgainedbydigitalflightcontrolsystemsinclude;

Command Augmentation Smoothes flight control surface movements by modifying

pilot commands as a function of air data scheduling.

Stability Augmentation Smoothes out turbulence of the flight path in all three axes by
incorporating motion sensor inputs into the control logic.

Automatic G force limiting Depending on stores configuration, it limits the amount of

Gs that can be obtained so not to overstress the airframe.

Automatic Spin Prevention Limits pilot inputs when aircraft is approaching a potential
spin state.

Gun Compensation To keep the aircraft straight it deflects rudder a small amount when
the main gun is being fired. This is used on most modern jet fighters.

MIL-STD-1553
The US military developed its own field bus so that the various computers and sensors on
aircraft could communicate together. The MIL-STD-1553 bus was developed concurrently with
the F-16 and digital flight controls, and is now widely used. John Freer(1996) explains that,
MIL-STD-1553 B is a data bus standard intended for use in aircraft, but now widely adopted
throughout the NATO countries in military aircraft, ships, submarines and armoured vehicles (p.
208). A 1553 network is time division, half duplex communications where all transmissions are

Flight Control Systems

on a single cable. In the 1553 bus system, there is one bus controller and the rest are terminals.
All messages are transmitted at the command of the bus controller. In case of degraded
performance by the bus controller, a backup bus controller is designated. Information flow on the
data bus is comprised of message formed into one of three word types: command, data and
status. Command words are messages or commands sent from the bus controller to the terminals.
Status words are responses from the terminals to the controller, and data words are naturally the
actual data being sent. Data words could encompass such information as; amount of fuel on
board, current position of friendly jets, or instructions to move flight surfaces. The bus controller
continuously polls the terminals and they respond with a status. Some data, such as flight control
commands, are given higher priority. A special trait of this bus is that branches and attachments
between bus sections are made by transformers with no direct electrical connection. This is made
possible by the use of a Non-return-to-zero modulation thus eliminating any DC component in
the data stream. This specific provision prevents single-point shorts of the bus, and assures that
the bus does not conduct current through the aircraft. Some revisions have been made to the bus
format over the years. The next generation field bus that the military is employing is the MILSTD-1773 bus. The 1773 bus is similar to the 1553 bus except that it is based on fiber optics.
This allows for greater speed in transmissions and resistance to electromagnetic pulses.
Conclusion and the Future
Since the first flight made by the Wright brothers, it is apparent that flight controls are
essential to flight. Not only essential to just causing a craft to be air born, flight controls have
allowed man to do great things. The NASA shuttle missions would not have been possible
without the advancements in this area. Whether consisting of simple mechanical controls, or
incorporating fiber optics and computers, all flight control processes consist of inputs outputs

Flight Control Systems

and feedback loops. The developments and standards thus far seem grand, but the future of flight
controls looks even more promising. Engineers are working on designs that will do away with
the current design of a fixed wing with a relatively small movable surface for control. The new
method will employ entire wing surfaces that are flexible. To control a fully flexible wing design
many more control loops would need to be added to current systems. The added weight and
complexity make it unfeasible with traditional controllers. To get around this, developers are
beginning to look towards neural networks and fuzzy logic controllers. In his study on the fuzzy
logic controllers for aircraft, Yasemin Isik (2009), found the following: As shown in simulation
results, responses obtained with fuzzy PD controller for three flight conditions are rather smooth.
And also settling times are quite close values with each other (p. 245).
Isik (2009) goes on to conclude;
The classical approach in which each mode and flight condition is treated as a separate
problem has led to mode proliferation and the need for complex algorithms. Application of
advanced techniques promises a significant reduction of design time because it would
remove the time-consuming classical "one-loop-at-a time" approach and reduce the number
of design points for which a controller has to be designed. Classical PD controller designed
for a flight condition doesn't give same performance characteristics for the different flight
conditions. As a result fuzzy PD controller gives good output characteristics for all flight
conditions.
With these exciting advancements in flight controls, one can only imagine where else it could be
applied to. Maybe humanoid robots or self driving automobiles will result from this technology.

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References
Freer, J. (1996). Computer Communications And Networks, 2nd Edition (Computer Systems) (2
ed.). Boca Raton: CRC.
Interfaces and Standards: MIL-STD-1553/1773 Basics. (n.d.). klabs.org. Retrieved April 28,
2010, from http://klabs.org/richcontent/Tutorial/Interfaces_And_Busses/1553/1553bus.htm
Isik, Y. (2009). A Cargo Jet Aircraft Altitude Control by Fuzzy PD Controller. International
Review of Aerospace Engineering, 2(5), 240-245.
Maslanik, J. R. (1983). HYDRAULICALLY OPERATED FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM.
Aviation structural mechanic H 3 & 2 (pp. 9-3). California: The Center.
Mcfarland, M., & Wright, O. (2000). The Papers of Wilbur & Orville Wright, Including the
Chanute-Wright Papers (1 ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Professional.
NASA Dryden Fact Sheet - F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire Aircraft. (n.d.). NASA. Retrieved April 27,
2010, from http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/FactSheets/FS-024-DFRC.html

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Figures

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